Robin Hood school funds system fares poorly in poll

Updated 10:54 pm, Tuesday, November 27, 2012

AUSTIN - A pollster hired by property-wealthy school districts testified Tuesday that voters in those areas have virtually no interest in supporting school tax increases knowing that nearly half of the new revenue would flow to the state under the so-called Robin Hood system.

Property-wealthy school districts contend the state's underfunded school funding system leaves them without meaningful discretion in educating children because they cannot generate additional revenue to pay for increasing enrollments and rising school costs.

Polling in three ISDs

Larry Harris, a founder of the Mason Dixon Polling & Research firm, testified about polling done in three property-wealthy school districts for the Texas School Coalition, one of six groups involved in a lawsuit against the state.

Four of the groups include school districts with claims the state is not adequately funding education or doing it equitably.

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The polling was conducted in the Frisco ISD, Calhoun ISD and Grapevine-Colleyville ISD areas in July. Nearly 9 out of 10 voters in those property-wealthy school districts would oppose a property tax increase when informed that almost half of the extra revenue would go to the state because of the Robin Hood school funding system in Texas.

Property-wealthy school districts are required to share their tax revenue.

"That is a tough nut to crack … nearly insurmountable," Harris told Lacy Lawrence, an attorney for the Texas School Coalition, which represents mostly property-wealthy schools.

500 voters in survey

Property-wealthy districts share about $1 billion of their local tax revenue each year.

A total of 374 school districts will be required to share their property wealth during the current school year.

When the Robin Hood system started in 1993, only 35 school districts in Texas were required to share their tax wealth.

That list has expanded as the state has found itself increasingly unable to generate sufficient school funding from its existing tax structure.

The poll surveyed 500 registered voters living in those three school districts and has a 4.5 percent margin of error.